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Hear Cory Schneiders first news conference in Switzerland get interrupted by a mine explosion
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On Wednesday, Cory Schneider became the third member of the Vancouver Canucks to say “nuts to this noise” and head to Europe, joining Ambri-Piotta of Switzerland’s National League A. No doubt he’s excited to actually be playing hockey again, especially considering the last six months of his life have been nothing but NHLPA negotiation committees and redundant questions about the goaltending situation in Vancouver.
But some things never change. Schneider was gleefully introduced by his new club Wednesday in the Swiss town of Biasca, where they practice, and if he thought that the trip East would mean a brief respite from questions about sharing the crease with Roberto Luongo, he thought wrong — Switzerland is no escape from such inquiries.
But here’s the difference: in Vancouver, the questions are just questions. In Switzerland, they’re apparently punctuated by ACTUAL, LITERAL EXPLOSIONS. Sadly, there’s no video of Schneider’s reaction but there is audio, courtesy Swiss website He Shoots, He Scoores (sic), and it’s pretty great. Listen for yourself:
Ah, yes, just your standard explosion at a press conference. You can say it’s one of the perils of going overseas, but it’s really no different from what happens when you put Larry Brooks and John Tortorella in the same room.
Nicholas Jacks, who transcribed the interview, was kind enough to also relay the exchange that follows the explosion. What the hell was that? asks Schneider, to which Ambri-Piotta athletic director J.J. Aeschlimann deadpans a perfect response.
“Ah…” he says, “I forgot to warn you that we are at war.”
Perfect.
Pre- and post-explosion, Schneider gives one of his usual candid but diplomatic interviews, although he’s a little more straightforward about what his expectations for this year are: starterdom. Here’s his response to being asked how he feels about the lockout delaying the start of what could be the biggest year of his career:
“It’s definitely frustrating. I was looking forward to playing this year and hopefully being a number one, so, for that to be delayed is frustrating. But you know, I’ve waited a long time anyways so hopefully it’ll only be a little while longer.” It’s true. Schneider’s dreams of being the number one in Vancouver began when he was drafted by the team eight years ago. What’s a few more months?
You can read or listen to the entire interview here. It’s, uh, not in English, so you’ll have to learn a new language or let Google butcher it for you.
s/t to Brad Ziemer.
